
» ^ 










> v *L 















■ V'"^' ; 



.0 A. - 



-0- 



0' 

,4° 














^ <& 
**<? 













<£" 






















. • » • A <\ 



^ ^ 
* * 





***** 



* * 0> ~ '°* *'"* ^ 




G°\C^N °o 



^o" 

^ 







V c » " • 
















C, if* 













••♦ *^o 




* «? ^, "^ 




;♦ ^ 



o_ * 





RESOLUTIONS 



AND 



ADDRESS, 



ADOPTED BY THE 



SOUTHERN - CONVENTION. 



HELD AT NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE, JUNE 3d TO 12t^ 
INCLUSIVE, IN THE YEAR 1850. . 



PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF THE CONVENTION. 



NASHVILLE, TENN., 

HARVET M. WATTERSON, FAIN? 13? 

1850. 



.Si* 






EESOLTJTIONS. 



Nashville, June 8, 1850. 

1. Resoloed, That the territories of the United States belong 
to the people of the several States of this Union as their com- 
mon property. That the citizens of the several States have equal 
rights to migrate with their property to these territories, and are 
equally entitled to the protection of the federal government in 
the enjoyment of that property so long as the territories remain 
under the charge of that government. 

2. Resolved, That Congress has no power to exclude from the 
territory of the United States any property lawfully held in the 
the States of the Union and any act which may be passed by Con- 
gress to effect this result is a plain violation of the Constitution 
of the United States. 

3. Resolved, That it is the duty of Congress to provide proper 
governments for the territories since the spirit of American Insti- 
tutions forbids the maintainance of military governments in time 
of peace, and as all laws heretofore existing in territories once 
belonging to foreign powers which interfere with the full enjoy- 
ment of religion — the freedom of the press — the trial by jury and 
all other rights of persons and property as secured or recognized 
in the constitution of the United States are necessarily void so 
toon as such territories become American territories, it is the du- 
ty of the federal government to make early provision for the en- 
actment of those laws which may be expedient and necessary to 
secure to the inhabitants of and emigrants to such territories the 
full benefit of the constitutional rights we assert. 

4. Resolved, That to protect property existing in the several 
States of the Union the people of these States invested the fede- 
ral government with the powers of war and negotiation and of 
sustaining armies and navies and prohibited to State authorities 



the ex pcise of the same powers. They made no discrimination 
in tin* protection to be afforded or the description of the property 
to be (i»r tided, nor was it fillowed to ihe federal government to 
ddtermine whal should be held as property. Whatov* r the States 
ee«l tviili a< property ihe federal government, is bound to recog- 
nize and ilrt'. ml as such. Therefore it is the sense of this Con- 
\. ntion thai all arts of the federal government which tend to de- 
nationalize property-of any descrip ion recognized in ihe Consti- 
tution and laws of the States, or i hat discriminate in the degree 
an I • fficiency of the proti ction to be afforded to if,or which weaken 
or d s Toy the title of any citizen upon American territories, are 
pi in ami palpable violations of the fundamental law under which 
i: exists. 

r». Resolved, That the slavenolding Stales can not and will not 
robmit to the enactment by Congress of any law imposing one- 
rous conditions or restraints upon the rights of masters »o re- 
in \< with ihcir property into the territories of I lie United States, 
or to any law making discriminations in favor of the proprietors 
of other property against them. 

G. Resolved, That it is Lpe duty of the federal government 
plai ly to recognize and firmly to maintain the equal rights of the 
citizens of the several States in the territories of the United 
States, and to repudiate the power to make a discriminat on be- 
tween ihe proprietors of different species of property in federal 
legislation. The fulfilment of this duty by tie- federal govern- 
ment-, would greatly tend to restore, the peace of the country and 
to allay the i xaspiTafimi and excitement which now exist be- 
en the different sections of the tTnion. Forit is the deliberate 
opi ion of this C invention that the toleranccCongress has given to 
flic notion that federal authority might be em doyed incidentally 
am! indirectly t i subvert oj; weaken the institutions existing in the 
Stat s confessedly beyond federal jurisdiction and control, is a 
m in cause oi the discord which menaa s t!ie existence of the 
Uni >n. and which his well n'gh destroyed the efficient action of 
the federal government itself. 

7. Resolved, Thai the pprforman.ee of this duty is required by 
Ihe fundame ital law of the [Jnion. Th equality of t In* people of 
the several States composing the Cnion cannot be distu bed with- 
out disturbing the frame of the American institutions. This 
r i pie is violated in the denial of the citizens of the slave- 
holding States of power to enter into the territories with the 
p illy acquired in the States. The warfare against 

this right, ia a war upon the constitution. The defend v^ >>t this 
i. a '■ defenders of tn • constitution. Those who deny prim- 
pa p iis exercise, are unfaithful to the constitution, and il' disun- 
dlowe ihe destruction of the right, they arethe disunionists. 
K Resolved, Thai the berfprraance of its du ies upon the prin- 
cipl we declare, would enable Congress to rertibve the emb.ir- 
i. ents in which the country is now involved. The vacant 
lerritories of the United States, no longer regarded as prizes for 



sectional rapacity and ambition, Would be gradually occupied by 
inhabitants drawn to them by their interests aiid,feelin< r 3 > The in- 
stitutions fitted to them would be naturally applied by gov- 
ernments formed on American ideas and approved by the del.b- 
erate choice of th ire nstituents. The community would be edu- 
cated and disciplined under a republican administration in hub- 
its of self government, and fitted or an association as a State-* 
and to the enjoynvnt of a place in the confederacy. A commu- 
nity so formed and organized, might well claim admission to the 
Union and none wou'd dispute the validity of the claim. 

9. Resolved, That a recognition of this principle, would de- 
prive the questions between Texas and the United States of their 
sectional character, and would leave ihem for adjustment \vi fl- 
out disturbance from sectional prejudices and passions, upon 
considerations, of magnanimity and justice. 

10. Resolved, That a recognition of this principle would infuse 
a spirit of conciliation in the discussion and adjustment of all 
the subjects of sectional dispute, which would afford a guaran- 
tee of an early and satisfactory determination. 

11. Resolved, That in the event a dominant majority shall re- 
fuse to recognize the great constitutional rights we assert, and 
shall continue to deny the obligations of the Federal Govern- 
ment to maintain them, it is the sense of this convention that 
the territories should be treated as property, and divided between 
the sections of the Union, so that the rights of both sections 
be adequately secured in their respective shares. That 
we are aware this course is open to grave objections, but 
we are ready to acquiesce in the adoption ot the line of 30 deg, 
30 min. north latitude, extending to the Pacific ocean, as an ex- 
treme concession, upon considerations of what is due to the sta- 
bility of our institutions. 

12. Resolved, That it is the opinion of this convention 
this controversy should be ended, either by a recognition of the 
constitutional rights of the Southern people, or by an equitable 
partition of the territories. That the spectacle of a confederacy 
of States, involved in quarrels over the fruits of a war in which 
the American arms weve crowned with glory, is humiliuing. 
Tln^t -K- -* — -.->--. •<: r • Wi'l^ot Prbvfcfl ffl + V "^'r of 
seffieiuent, a propo^^iou tvnicti fourteen States regard as dis- 
paraging and dishonorable, is degrading to the country. A ter- 
mination to this controversy by the disruption of the confeder- 
acy, or by the abandonment of the territories to prevent such a 
result, wouldbe a climax to the shame which attaches to the 
conroversy which it is the paramount duty of Congress to avoid. 

13. Resolved, That this convention will not conclude that 
Congress will adjourn without making an adjustment of 
this controversy, and in the condition in which the convention 
finds the questions before Congress, it does not feel at liberty to 
discuss the methods suitable for a resistance to measures not 
yet adopted, which might involve a dishonor to the Southern 

. tates. 



6 

1 1. 11 solved, That the. true boundaries of the State of Texas 
are defined in the treaty of May 14th, 1836, signed by the Presi- 
dent of Texas and the members of the cabinet thereof, on the 
one pact and by the authorized representatives of the govern- 
ment of Mexico, on the other part, setting forth the lines of de- 
markation in the following words, to wit: "The line shall com- 
mence at the estuary or month of the Rio Grande, on the western 
bank thereof, and shall pursue the same bank up the said river, 
to the point where the river assumes the name of Rio Bravo del 
Norte, from which point it shall proceed on the said western 
bank to the head waters or source of said river, it being under- 
stood that the terms Rio Grande and Rio Brav > del Norte apply 
to and designate one and the same stream. From the source of 
said river, the principal head branch being taken to ascertain 
that source, a due north line shall be run until it shall intersect 
the boundary line established and described in the treaty negotia- 
ted by and between the government of Spain and the govern- 
ment of the United States of the North; which line was subse- 
quently transferred to and adopted in the treaty of limits made 
between the government of Mexico and that of the United States; 
and from this point, of intersection the line shall be the same that 
was made and established in and by the several treaties above- 
mentioned, to continue to the mouth or outlet of the Sabine river, 
and from thence to the Gulf of Mexico." That the said State 
of Texas asserted sovereign authority over all territory 
comprehended within the boundary set forth in the fore- 
going resolution before the date of the recognition of her in- 
dependence by the government of the United States, and 
before the date of her annexation to the United States: and 
her claim to these boundaries, was well known to the gov- 
ernment of the United States, as evidenced by a map distinct- 
ly setting them forth, published for the use of our government, 
at the time of the annexation of Texas, and extensively circu- 
lated by members of Congress and other public agents. That by 
the terms of the joint resolution for annexing Texas to the United 
States, it is expressly provided that the government of the Uni- 
ted States should have power to adjust all questions of bounda- 
ry which might arise with other governments; that no such 
question of boundary lias been adjusted with any other govern- 
ment, so as to contract or vary the boundaries of Texas. That 
Mexico, by the treaty of Gaudalupe Hidalgo, expressly relin- 
quished all claim to all territory comprehended within the boun- 
daries heretofore described; whereby, the claim of Texas became 
settled, and her jurisdiction and authority became complete. — 
That the State of Texas should not be hindered or disturbed by 
any authority (whatever, in the exercise of all such sovereign 
•end supreme power over all territory within her limits as may 
be lawfully exi rei-ed by any other sovereign State of the con- 
federacy over territory within its ascertained limits. 

15. Resolved, That all the territory within the limits of the 



State of Texas, being now slaveholding territory, it is of vital 
importance to the Southern States, that no portion of it should be 
transferred to the jurisdiction of the Federal Government, with- 
out the most explicit declaration, that the same shall be slave 
territory in the hands of the United States, as fully as it now is 
in the hands of Texas. That no agreement between the Uni- 
ted States and Texas for a cession to the former of a part of the 
territory of the latter, should discharge the Government of the 
United States from the obligations to admit into the Union four 
new States, to be created on the territory of Texas, with the in- 
stitution of slavery, and provision should be made in the article 
of cession to preserve said obligation. 

16. Resolved, That it is the duty of the whole South to op- 
pose the attempt of Northern fanatics, to get possession of any 
part of the territory rightfully belonging to Texas, for the pur- 
pose of excluding therefrom the people of the South, and espe- 
cially the Texans themselves. 

17. Resolved, That while the position of Texas, in the very 
breach through which this assault may be made on- the consti- 
tutional rights of the South, entitles her to the assurance of cor- 
dial and resolute support from every slaveholding State, these 
States have a like right to expect that she will not be so false 
to herself, and regardless of their interest, as to accept any sum 
of money as a consideration for admitting an enemy within her 
gates, and establishing there a stronghold of abolition, and a 
harbor for fugitive slaves. 

18. Resolved. That the right of the people of Texas to form 
at the proper time, with the consent of that State, four new 
slaveholding States, in addition to said State of Texas, out of 
the territory thereof, is clear and unquestionable, and cannot 
be strengthened by any mere legislative construction or guar- 
antee. 

19. Resolved, That the whole legislative power of the United 
States Government is derived from the Constitution and delega-- 
ted to Congress, and cannot be increased or diminished but by an 
amendment of the Constitution. 

20. Resolved, That the acquisition of territory by the United 
States, whether occupied or vacant, either by purchase, con- 
quest or treaty, adds nothing to the legislative power of Con- 
gress, as granted and limited in the Constitution. 

21. Resolved, That the adoption of a foreign law existing at 
fiie time, in territory purchased, ceded, or granted, is the exer- 
cise of legislative power, and cannot be done unless the law is 
of such a character as might rightfully be enacted by Congress 
under the Constitution, without reference to its pre-existence as 
a foreign law. 

22. Resolved, That the alleged principle of the law of Nations, 
recognizing, to some extent, the perpetuation of foreign laws 
in existence within a territory at the time of its acquisition by 
purchase, conquest or treaty, cannot under our Constitution and 



8 

form of government, go to the extent of continuing in force, in 
s ich territory, any law that could not be directly enacted by 
Congress, by virtue of the powers of legislation delegated to it 
by the Constitution. 

23. Resolved, That no power of doing any act or thing by any 
of the Department* of our Government, can be based upon the 
principles of any foreign law, or of the laws of nations, beyond 
what exists in such Department under the Constitution of the 
United States, without reference to such foreign law or the laws 
of i\ations. 

24. Resolved, That slavery exists in the United States independ- 
ent of the Constitution. That it is recognized by the Constitution 
in a threefold aspect, first as property, second as a domestic re- 
lation of service or labor under the law of a State, and lastly as 
a basis of political power. And viewed in any or all of these 
lights, Congress has no power under the Constitution, to create 
or destroy it anywhere; nor can such power be derived from 
foreign laws, conquest, cession, treaty or the laws of nations, nor 
from any other source but an amendment of the Constitution itself. 

25. Resolved, That the Constitution confers no power upon Con- 
gress to regulate or prohibit the sale and transfer of slaves be- 
tween the States. 

26. Resolved, That the reception, or consideration by Congress 
of resolutions, memorials or petitions, from the States in which 
domestic slavery does not exist, or from the people of said States, 
in relation to the institution of slavery where it does exist, with 
a view of effecting its abolition, or to impair the rights of those 
interested in it, to its peaceful and secure enjoyment, is a gross 
abuse and an entire perversion of the right of petition as secured 
by the federal Constitution, and if persisted in must and will 
lead to the most dangerous and lamentable consequences — that 
the right of petition for a redress of grievances as provided for 
by the Constitution was designed to enable the citizens of the 
United States to manifest and make known to Congress the ex- 
istence of evils under which they were suffering, whether affect- 
ing them personally, locally or generally, and to cause such evils 
to be redressed by the proper and competent authority, but was 
ik" ei designed or intended as a means of inflicting injury on 
others, or jeoparding the peaceful and secure enjoyment of 
their rignts, whether existing under the Constitution or under 
tin- sovereignty and authority of the several States. 

27. !i v ,/,, ^ That, it is the duty of Congress to provide effectfial 
means of executing the 2d section of the 4th article of the 
Constitution relating to the restoration of fugitives from service 
or labor. 

28. Resolved, That when this Convention adjourn, it adjourn to 
met t at Nashville, in the State of Tennessee, the 0th Monday af- 
ter tin- adjournment of the present session of Congress, and that 
the Southern States be recommended lo fill their delegations 
forthwith. 



ADDRESS 

To the People of Maryland, Virginia, North Caro- 
lina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, 
Tennessee, Kentucky, Louisiana^ Texas, Missouri, 
Mississippi, and Arkansas: 

Fellow Citizens: 

In obedience to the commands of those we represent, we 
have assembled together to confer with each other concerning 
your relation with the general Government and the non-slave- 
holding States of the Union, 0:1 the subject of the institution 
of Slavery. We deem it proper to lay before you a c briefly 
as the subject will permit, the result of our deliberations and 
councils. 

In order that your condition may be understood, and the con- 
clusions at which we have arrived be justly appreciated, it is 
necessary briefly to refer to a few past transactions. 

It is now sixteen years since the institution of Slavery in the 
South begar to be agitated, in Congress and assailed by our sis- 
ter States. Up to that time, the people of the Northern S:ates 
seem to have respected the rights reserved to the Southern 
States by the Constitution, and to have acted under the convic- 
tion, that the subject of slavery being beyond the legislation of 
Congress, all ap.-ita.tion with respect to it on the part of Congress, 
was equally ft>t bidden by the Constitution. But at this time, a 
portion of the people of the North began to assail, in Congress, 
the institution of slayery; and to accomplish their object of drag- 
ging it into the vortex of congressional agitation, they claimed 
the pight of petitioning Congress upon all subjects whatsoever. 
As a petition is only the first step in legislation, it was clear 
that a right'to petition a legislative body, must be limited by 
its powers of legislation. No one can have a right to ask of 
another 10 do tti^t wh'^b h-e ^as no mora,! or legiajJ rw?l + to ^1. 

any mat tei beyond its jurisdiction. The claim therelore to pre- 
sent petitions tb Congress on the subject of slavery, was consid- 
ered by the. Soufher-n Representatives generally, as an attempt 
indirecilv, to rsmtne jurisdiction over the subject itself, in all 
parts of the Union. The object, without disguise, was the over- 
throw of slavery in the States; but cur assailants framed the 
petitions presented, chiefly against Slavery in the District of 
Columbia and our Territories,and against whatthey call the inter- 
nal Slave trade — that is, the transmission of slaves from one 
Southern State to another. Conscious of the fatal tendency of 
the agitation of Slavery in Congress, to destroy the peace and 



10 

stability of the Union, an effort was made, supported by a largo 
portion of the Northern Representatives, to suppress it by a 
rule in the House of Representatives, which provided, that, all 
petitions on the suhject of slavery, should be neither considered, 
printed, or referred. This rule was assailed by the people of 
the Northern States, as violating that clause of the Constitution 
which prohibits Congress from pausing laws to prevent the 
people ti'om peaceably assembling and petitioning for a redress 
of grievances. In December, 1811, this rule fell before the almost 
unanimous voice of the North; and thus the unlimited power of in- 
troducing and considering the subject of slavery in Congress, 
was asserted. In the mean time, the course of the N >i thern 
people showed clearly, that the agitation of slavery in Congress 
was only one of the means they relied on to overthrow this in- 
stitution throughout the Union. Newspapers were set up 
amongst them, and lecturers were hired to go abroad to excite 
them against slavery in the Southern States. Organizations 
were formed to carry off slaves from the South, and to protect 
them by violence from recapture. Although the Constitution 
requires that fugitive slaves, like fugitives from justice, should be 
rendered up by the States to which they may have lied, the legis- 
latures of almost every Northern State, faithless to this treaty 
stipulation between the States, passed laws designed and calcula- 
ted entirely to defeat this provision of the Constitution, without 
which the Union would never have existed, and by these laws 
virtually nullified the act of 1794, passed by Congress to aid its 
enforcement. Not content with the agitation of slavery in po- 
litical circles, the Northern people forced it also into the re- 
ligious associations extending over the Union, and produced a 
separation of the Methodist and Baptist churches. The result 
of all these various methods of assailing slavery in the South- 
ern States, was, that it became the grand topic of interest and 
discussion in Congress and out of Congress, and one of the most 
important elements of polities in the Union* Thus an institu- 
tion, belonging to the Southern States exclusively, was wrested 
from their exclusive control; and instead of that protection 
which is the great object of all governments, and which the 
Constitution of the United States guarantees to all the States 
and their institutions, the Northern States, and Congress un- 
der their control, combined together, to assail and destroy slavery 
in the South, The Southern Slates did nothing to vindicate 
their ii_ r lus and arrest thi> course of things. The JVj ixicau war 
broke out; and instead of thai patriotic co-operation of all sec- 
tions of the Union, which would have taken place in the better 
days of the Republic, to bring it to a just and honorable conclu- 
sion, in the very first appropriation bill to carry il on, the North 
endeavored i<» thrust the subject of slavery. Throughout the 
war, they kept up the agitation; thus clearly man resting their 
determination that the General Government in none of its oper- 
ations, Internal or external, shall bo exempted tie fntro- 



11 

duction of this dangerous subject. The war closed with honor; 
and an immense territory was added to the United States. Their 
previous threats were realised: and the non-slaveholding States 
immediately claimed the right, to exclude the people of the 
Southern States from all the territory acquired, and to appro- 
priate it to themselves. If this pretension arose from a mere lust 
of power, it would be hard to bear the superiority and mastery 
it implies. It would degrade the Southern States from being 
the equals of the Northern States, to a position of colonial in- 
feriority. But when your exclusion is not from a mere lust of 
power, but is only a further step in the progress of things, aim- 
ing at the abolition of slavery in the States, by the extension 
and multiplication of non-slaveholding States in the Union, the 
pretension is seen to be as alarming as it is insulting. The 
Southern States, in their Legislatures, set forth with great una- 
nimity the rights in our territories belonging to them in com- 
mon with the Northern States, and declared their determination 
to maintain them; and finding in the Northern States no dispo- 
sition to abate their demands, the Convention in which we are 
assembled, has been brought together to take counsel as to the 
course the Southern States should pursue, for the maintenance 
of their rights, liberty and honor. 

Such is a brief, but imperfect, statement of past transactions: 
and they force upon us the question, in what condition do they 
place the Southern States? And first, what is their condition in 
Congress? The time was when your Representatives in Con- 
gress, were neither offered, nor would they endure, reproach in 
your behalf. But for many years past, they have heard you in 
Congress habitually reviled by the most opprobrious epithelson 
account of the institution of slavery. If their spirits are yet un- 
broken, they must be chilled by a sense of humiliation at the in- 
sults they daily receive as your representatives. You are 
arraigned as criminals. Slavery is dragged into every debate, 
and Congress has become little else, than a grand instrument in 
the hands of abolitionists to degrade and ruin the South. Instead 
of peace and protection, aggression and insult on the South char- 
acterize its proceedings and councils. And what is your condi- 
tion, with respect to your sister States? Where is that respect 
and comity, which (due from all nations toward each other) is 
more especially due from States bound together in a confederacy,, 
and which was once displayed in all their intercourse. Instead 
of respect, and sympathy — denunciation and hostility, on account 
of your institution of slavery, have for years past characterized 
the communications addressed to you by the Northern States. 
And what is your condition in the Union? The non-slavehold- 
ing States stand combined, not only to wrest from you your com- 
mon property, but to place upon your front, the brand of inferior- 
ity. You are not to extend, on aoc&wnt oi your instiiutio: s, but 
they are to increase and multiply, that the shame and sin of 
slave. y, may by their philanthropic agency, be extinguished 



12 

t you. But the worst feature of your condition is, 
progressive* As Iqw and humiliating as it now may he. 
it is destined, if not arrested, to ''a lower deep.'' EJvj ry effect is 
;i cause"; and the spirit of fanaticism brooks no delay in the pro- 
gress it creates. If you were to yield every thinjj the North 
no v requires — abolish slavery in the District; of Columbia — sub- 
mit to he legislated pirates for conveying slaves from one State 
to . n »'her — let trial by jury and ihe writ of Habeas Coi~pu&, wrest 

; 0:1 in the Northern Sjtatesevery fugitive slave — give up 
all your territories to swell Nor hern arrogance and predomi- 
nance — would things stop there? These are all means aiming at 
one great end — the abolition of slaver) in the States. Surre.n 
dering one of these means you will but inflame the power by 
w! i. h another will he pgacted — and when all are conquered, 
will the evil be arrested? In til'ty years, twenty new non-slave- 
holdiu;: States may he added to ihe Union, whilst some which 
a'-" now slaveholding, may become non-slavehohlmg States. 

v the:), will be no need as now, openly to put aside the con- 
stitatiort to reach their object. If they will deign to do it, the 
nn::-sia v. -holding States will then have the power by two thirds 
in Congress and three fourihs of the States, to amend the con- 
stitution, and then have its express sanction to consummate their 
Your condition is progressive. 
If from the past transactions we have narrated, we learn our con- 
di Ion in the Union — they teach us also that our past policy of non- 
action an ! submission 10 oggressi .11 cannot bring us peace and 
si'ety. When the doors of Congress were thrown open to ftgi- 
ta'io ) 0:1 the subject < f slavery, if the Southern States had moved 
with energy 10 avert a state of things unconstitutional itself, and 
sure'y tending to bring the slave-holding and non-s!aveh.,lding 
States in o collision — altho' late, it might not have been too late 
to stop >u> sequent encroachments upon our rights. But the 
Sou h rn States were passive: and their forbearance has had 
the effect of inspiring the Northern people with th b lief, ei- 

i'.'t we value a union with them more than we value 
the institution of slavery <>r that we dare not move from a 

1 us inabili y to protect ours lv s. You have ungen- 

gene •■ '• {to r] 'i" hi your pu] ' "' ' '.' ' "s of 

t h I lonstitu ion in the Northern State*, in Ua ur e > . ... ... ..icct 

yon f;:'M the agitations of slavery in Ci ngiessv have be n politi- 
cally a nibilattfd or have turned your foes. \ u have tamely 
acquiesced- 1 - until, to h ite and persecu e the flout .. baa bi ••onie 
issport to »honor and jpower in the. Union. Yo\ baveun- 

wi e y si o ' still, whilst \ ear all r year the volume of anti -slav< - 

ry policy and sympathy baa swollen i to unanimity throughout 
all the non-sla\ e holding Sta ea. and the sections of 1 he Union 
n w ace « ach other in e em c llision. Vim have waited, until 
the Constituti n of ths I nit ed -tales is in danger of being abol- 
ish d- or oi beooming what, the m j -rity in Congress think 
proper to makt it. 'lhat gr< a: principle on which our sysfc m of 



13 

free government rests — of so dividing the powers of Government 
— that to a common Government, only those powers should he 
granted, which must affect all the people composing it. equally 
in their operation — whilst all powers overall interests local 
or sectional, should be reserved to local or sectional governments- 
is in danger of being uprooted from the Constitution. Local 
and sectional interests absorb the time an I business of Congress, 
and thus, a sectional despotism, totally irresponsible to the people 
of the South — constituted of the Representatives in Congress 
from the non-s!aveholding States — ignorant of our feelings, con- 
dition and institutions — reigns at Washington. These are the 
fruits of your past forbearance an I submission. 

If we look into the nature of things, such results will not seem 
to be either new or strange. There is but one condiion, in 
which one people can be snfe under the dominion of another people; 
and that is when their interests are entirely idenical. Then, the 
domin; nt. cannot oppress the subject people, without oppress- 
ing themselves. The identity of intei est between them, is the 
security for right government. But as this identity can scarcely 
ever exist, between any two people, history bears but one testi- 
mony as to the fiteof a subject people. They have always been 
compelled to minister to the prosperity and agrandizemem of 
their masters. If this has always been the case under the ordin- 
ary difference, of interests and feelings which exist between States, 
how much more certainly must the experience of history be 
realized, between the people of the Northern and Sou hern 
States. Here is a difference of ciima'e and productions through- 
out a territory stretching along the whole belt of the temperate 
zone, affecting the pursuits a id characters of the people in- 
habiting it. But the great difference — the one great difference 
— the greatest which can exist among a people, is the institution 
of slavery. This alone sets apart the, Southern States as a pecu- 
liar people — with whom independence as to their internal policy, 
is the condi ion of their existence. They must rule themselves, 
or perish. Every colony in the world where African slavery ex- 
isted, with one exception, has been destroyed; and if this has 
been the case under the old and effete governments of Europe, 
will it not prevail under the dominion of the restless people of 
the Northern States? They do not practically recognise the in- 
feriority of the African to the Caucasian races. They do not 
realize, because the circumstances of their condition do not com- 
pel them to realize, the impossibility of an amalgamation be- 
tween the races. Exempt from the institution of slavery, it 
is not surprising that their sympathies should be against, us, 
whilst the, dogma on which they profess to build their system 
of free government — the absolute rule of the majority — leaves 
no barrier to their power in the affairs of the General Government, 
and leads them to its consolidation. Religion too, false or real — 
fires their enthusiasm against an institution, which many of 
its professors believe to be inconsistent with its principles and 



14 

precepts. To expect forbearance from such a people, under 
such circumstances,,towarcJ3 the institution of slavery, is mani- 
festly vain. It they have been false to the compact made with 
u^ in the constitution, and have allowed passion and prejudice to 
master reason, they have only exemplified that frailty ami fallibili- 
ty of our nature, which have produced the necessity of all govern- 
ments, ami which, if unchecked, ever produces wrong. The in- 
stitution of slavery having once entered the popular mind of the 
non-slaveholding States, lor action and control, the rest is inev- 
itable. If unrestrained by us, they will go on, until African 
slavery will be swept from the broad and fertile South. The na- 
ture of things therefore, independent of exeperience, teaches us 
that there can be no safety in submission. 

To submit to evils, however great, whilst they are endurable, 
is the disposition of every people — especially of an agricultural 
people, living apart, and having no association in their pursuits. 
But the responsibility of preserving a free government rests with 
all its members, whatever may be their pursuits, and not alone 
with those who have the power or the will to destroy it. A mi- 
nority, by submission, may as much betray the constitution, as a 
majority by aggression. The constitution does not protect a ma- 
jority; i'or they have all the powers of the government in their 
hands and can protect themselves. The limitations of a con- 
stitution are designed to protect the minority — those who have 
no power, against those who have it. Hence, the great motive 
and duty of selfprot'Ction is peculiar to a minority, independ- 
ent ot that faith to the constitution which they owe in common 
with the majority. They must protect themselves, and protect 
the constitution; and if they fail in this double duty, they are at 
least as culpable as those who, in aggressing upon their rights, 
overthrow the constitution. And the public opinion of the world 
is in conformity with these views. The oppressor is hated — but 
the unresistingly oppressed is despised. More respect follows 
the tyrant, than the slave who submits to his power. The south- 
ern States, therefore, although a minority, are not exempt from 
the responsibility of preserving the constitution, and, in preserv- 
ing it, to protect themselves. 

In what way shall they preserve the constitution and protect 
themselves? 

As a general rule, it is undoubtedly true, that when, in a gov- 
ernment like ours, a constitution is violated by a majority, who 
alone can violate it in matters of legislation, it cannot be restor- 
ed to its integrity through the ordinary means of the government; 
for these means, being under the control of the majority, are not 
available to the minority. It is for this reason, that frequent elec- 
tions of our rulers take place in our system of lice government, 
in older that the people, by their direct intervention, may change 
the majority. But this resource cannot avail us in the violations 
of the constitution, which no w press and harass the South. By 
changing their representatives, how can the people of the South 



15 

affect the majority in Congress and restore the constitution? 
Their Representatives are true; and have done all that men can 
do, to preserve the constitution from the aggressions of the ma- 
jority. Removing them, and putting other Representatives in 
Congress, could have no effect in restoring the constitution. It 
has been broken by the representatives of the people of the 
northern States, who sustain them in their violations of the con- 
stitution. It is clear that the ballot-box in the [South is power- 
less for its protection. And the same causes which induced the 
violations of the constitution by the northern majoritj, prevent 
its restoration to its integrity. Throughout the northern States 
there has been no indication of any change in their policy. On 
the contrary, the majority against the South is greater in the pre- 
sent Congress than in the last, following the usual course of eve- 
ry successive election for years past. Is or have we seen in the 
action of the States, with few exceptions, any proot of a returning 
sense of justice to us, or of reverence for the constitution. Several 
of them, lest false inferences might be drawn as to their position, 
have taken care lately to reiterate in the most offensive forms their 
former declarations against our rights; and when a great Senator, 
representing one of them, anxious for the perpetuation of the 
Union, has ventured to advocate something of justice to the South, 
he has been rebuked by the Legislature of the State he represents, 
and virtually denounced for his fidelity to the constitution. This 
resource then, under the ordinary operations of the constitution, 
is of no avail. And how is it with the present Congress, the 
only other source of redress in the usual administration of the 
constitution? For six months it has been in session, and during 
this whole period of time slavery has been the absorbing topic of 
discussion and agitation. Yet nothing has been done to heal the 
discontents which so justly exist in the South, or restore a bleed- 
ing constitution. All we have received has been bitter denunci- 
ations of our institutions by many members of Congress, and 
threats to coerce us into submission. Although nothing has been 
done, a report has been made in the. Senate by a committee of 
thirteen members, which is now pending in that body; and as the 
measures it proposes have been pressed upon the South as worthy 
of her acceptance, we deem it proper to lay before you a brief 
consideration of the matters it contains. 

This Report embraces four distinct measures — 1st the admis- 
mission of California as a State, with the exclusion of slavery 
in her constitution. 2d. Territorial Governments to be erected 
over the territories of Utah and New Mexico, with nearly one 
half of Texas to be added to the latter. 3d. The prohibition of 
the slave trade in the District of Columbia; and 4th., provisions 
for the recapture of fugitive slaves in the non-slaveholding 
States. To understand whether these measures are consistent 
with our rights and worthy of our acceptance, each of them must 
be considered separately. 

The South is excluded by the bill from the whole of that part 



1G 

of California lying ou the Pacific, including one hundred ;ind fifty 
thousand square miles el*. territory: and if this is done by the 
legislation of Congress, the mode in which it is done, is of no 
importance. California belongs to the United, States, and all ac- 
tion by I'm individuals in that territory, whither from the Uni- 
ted States or from the rest of the world, appropriating the soil 1o 
themselves or erecting a government over it, is of no validity. 
They constitURfl a people in no propersense of th ■ term; but are 
citizf ns.of thfjStates or countries from which they have, come, 
mul to which they still owe their allegiance. When therefore 
Congress attempts to carry out and confirm the acts of these in- 
dividuals, erecting California into a state and excluding slavery 
therefrom, it is the same thing as if Congress had originally pas- 
sed a law to this eifect, without the intervention of the-e indi- 
viduals. The exclusion of slavery from California is done by the 
ac( of Congress, and by no other authority. The constitution 
of California becomes the act of Congress; and the Wilmot pro- 
viso it contains, is the Wilmot proviso passed and enforced by 
the legislation of Congress. Here then, is that exclusion from 
this territory by the act of Congress, which almost every southern 
State in the Union has declared she would not. submit to, plain- 
ly and practically enforced by this bill. A free people cannot 
be satisfied with the mode in which they are deprived of their 
rights. A sovereign State will disdain to enquire in what man- 
ner she is Stripped of her property, and degraded from an equal- 
ity with her sister States. It is enough, that the outrage is done. 
The mode is of little consequence. There is there fore i n the. mode 
of extending the Wilmot proviso over the territory of California 
presented by the bill, nothing to mitigate the indignation of the 
southern S.ates, or to bailie their determination to redress the 
wrong, it' indicted. They are excluded from the whole Territo- 
r} r of California, a Territory extensive enough to contain four 
large States. 

If the Constitution proposed by California contained nothing 
about slavery, would the .North allow her to enter the Union? 
Such were the territorial bills proposed for California at the 
last Congress, hut they rejected them, because the Sout]b was not 
excluded from this territory, in express terms. Tl.c inhabitants 
of this territory, have been left without any civil government, 
solely because the South would not consent to be legislated out 
of them with her institutions) and now that this object is accom- 
plished by the Constitution presented by California, these con- 
servatives — these advocates of law and order — are eager^b admit 
her. without right or precedent, into the Union. We are aware 
of the iaconveniencies the inhabitants of California may have 
suffered for want of a civil government established by Congress ; 
and therefore, are prepared to yield much on account of the cir- 
cumstances in which they have been placed. 

The next measure is in perfect keeping with th 18 first feature 
of "the report." It takes from Texas, territory sufficient for two 



17 

large States, and adds them to New Mexico. What the bill con- 
tains with respect to slavery will be of little consequence; for it is 
designed that next winter New Mexico thus constituted, shall fol- 
low the example of California, and be admitted as a State with 
a Constitution excluding slavery from its limits — for without 
such exclusion she cannot hope to be admitted by the non-slave- 
holding States into the Union. The effect will be that territory, 
over which slavery now exists, equal to two States, will be 
wrested from the South, and will be given up to the non-slave- 
holding States. The pretext is, that there is some doubt as to 
the boundaries of Texas. Texas by her laws, when she was ad- 
mitted into the Union, had but one boundary towards the West, 
and that boundary was the Rio Grande. Congress in the reso- 
lutions admitting her into the Union recognized this boundary, by 
laying down a line of limitation between the slaveholding and 
non-slaveholding States — (being the Missouri Compromise line 
of 36deg. 30min. parallel of North latitude) — through that very 
part of her territory, her right to which is now questioned. Her 
boundary of the Rio Grande to its source alone gave her this 
country: and was thus recognised and ratified by the resolutions 
of annexation. To vindicate this boundary for Texas, as a mem- 
ber of the Union, the Mexican war took place ; and in the trea- 
ty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo, it was finally vindicated and settled, 
by a clause in the treaty, designating the Rio Grande as the 
boundary between Mexico and the United States. Thus by the 
laws of Texas, by the legislation of Congress, and by a solemn 
treaty of the United States, the Rio Grande is the western boun- 
dary of Texas. Yet the pretension is set up, that her territory 
does not extend to within three hundred miles of the Missouri 
Compromise line, where Congress in receiving herinto the Union,, 
determined that her territory should be divided between the 
slaveholding and non-slaveholding States. Texas is the only 
State in the Union which has the solemn guarantee of the Gov- 
ernment of the United States in every possible form to her boun- 
daries. Yet this is the Government which disputes them; and 
under the pretext that they are very doubtful, proposes to take 
from her nearly one half of her territory. It is by virtue of such 
pretensions, that by the bill two States are to be taken from the 
southern and given to the northern States; and this wrong is ag- 
gravated; by compelling us to pay for it, through the Treasury of 
the United States. 

It is undoubtedly proper, that Texas should be quieted as to her 
boundaries; but she should be quieted by a law of Congres, 
plainly acknowledging them. If after her boundaries are settled, 
the General Government, to carry out the purposes of the consti- 
tution, or in good faith to fulfil all the obligations, the annexa- 
tion of Texas to the Union requires, should think proper to pur- 
chase any territory from Texas, the arrangement may be un- 
objectionable. But any arrangement concerning her territories, 
which leaves a shade of doubt as to the right of the people of 
2 



18 

the South to enter any portion of the Territory which, according' 
to the terms of annexation arc now free to them, neither Texas 
nor the General Government have any right to make. The 
terms of annexation constitute '.ho compact of Union, between 
Texas and the other States of the confederacy — and this com- 
pact secures irrevocably to the people of the slaveholding States 
the right of entering with their property all her territory lying 
south of 88 deg. 3(Jmin. north latitude — whilst from all her terri- 
tory lying north of that line, they are excluded. The bill in 
the Sei.aie makes no provision for carrying out these terms of 
the comj act, but leaves in doubt the right of the Southern peo- 
ple, throughout all the territory pioposed to be purchased; whilst 
many who support the bill declare that in effect it excludes en- 
tirely the people of the Southern States from all the tenitory 
purchased. The least evil therefore the bill can bring to the 
people of the Southern Slates on entering it, will be contention, 
harassment and litigrtion. 

But you will have a very adequate conception of the impor- 
tance of the territory taken from Texas by the bill, if you con- 
fine your views to Texas. If you will look at the map of the 
United Slates, you will perceive that the territory proposed to be 
surrendered by Texas, lies throughout its whole extent along the 
western frontier of the Indian Territory. This is now a slave- 
holding country; and must be considered as a part of the South, 
Place along their whole western boundary two non-slaveholding 
States, and how long will the Indians be able to maintain the 
institution of slaver)? If the agency of Congress is not used, 
to abolish directly slavery in the Indian Territory, this end can be 
easily accomplished by the very means now in operation against 
slavery in the Southern States, which the indian will have but 
little power to resist. The effect will be, that the Indian Terri- 
tory, large enough for two more States, will be controlled by the 
non-slaveholding States. Thus by these two points in the report 
the South will lose four large States in California — two in Texas, 
and two in the Indian Tenitory. Nor is this all. The non- 
slaveholding Slates will be brought to the western boundary of 
Missouri and Arkansas, along their whole extent, and will bouud 
Texas on her whole northern and western frontier. Thus the 
Southern States will be hemmed in by the non-slaveholding 
States on their whole western border — a polity which they have 
declared essential to the end of abolishing slavery in the South- 
ern States. What can compensate the South for such enormous 
wrong and spoliation? 

But this is not the end of your concessions by this report. We 
must not only )ield to the interests, but to the prejudices of the 
northern people. Slavery existed in the District of Columbia 
wrheri Congress accepted the cession of the territory composing 
it from the Stales of JVlaiyland and Virginia. No one can sup- 
pose that Maryland and Virginia, slaveholding States then and 
slaveholding States now, could have designed to give Congress 



19 

any power over the institution of slavery in this territory. Inde 

pendently of the wrong to the people of the District, to emanci- 
pate their slaves, it would bean in olerable evil to h tve a Dis 
trict between them, where emancipation prevails by the authori- 
ty of C mgress. Congress, in the bill reported a-s a part ot the 
so-called compromise, now begins the work of emancipa ion by 
declaring that if any slave is brought info the District [>v sale 
he shall be "liberated and five." If a slave is liberated because 
he is brought into the District, the next step, to liberate him be- 
cause he is in the District, is not difficult. The power to eman- 
cipae the slaves in the District of Columbia is thus claimed and 
exercised by Congress. Many of the ablest men of the South 
have denied that Congress possesses any such power, whilst all 
agreed, until lately, that for Congress to interfere with this in- 
stitution, wh 1st slavery existed in Maryland and Virginia, would 
be a gross breach of faith towards those Sa'es, and an outrage 
upon the wh >le South. How long will that facility which yields 
to i he prejudice against the buying and selling of slaves be able 
to resist the greater prejudice which exists against the holding 
of slaves at all in the District of Columbia? 

For all these sacrifices to the interests and prejudices of the 
people of the Nor.h the South is tendered the last measure of the 
compromise — the fugiive slave bill as they propose to amend it. 
To understtnd the extent of the concession the South receives 
on thi> p )int, we mu-t lo >k to the rights the constitution confers. 

The framers of the Constitution were perfectly aware that 
the General Government could have but li tie power to secure 
to them their fugitive slaves in the non-slaveho'ding States. 
The who'e inter ial police of a State must be under the control 
of the State, and bv this chiefly could slaves be re-captured. The 
Constitu ion therefore, not relying on the legislation of Congress 
alone, requires that a fugitive slave, escaping ino a non-slave- 
hol ling State, shall be "delivered upon claim of the party" to 
whom he b dongs. Fugitive slaves are put on the footing of fu- 
gitive criminals, and are to b?, delivered up by the State authori- 
ties. If th se authorities do not enforce the requirements of the 
Constitution, and ad in the re-capture and recovery of fugitive 
slaves, Congress can do but lit le to enforce them. The bill pro- 
viding for the co-operation of the few officers of the United States 
Government in a State, is prac ically quite insufficient to accom- 
plish its aim. What can they do in such a State as Pennsylvania, 
to recover fugitive slaves? Yet if Congress does all that it can do, 
by legislation, to enforce the Constitution, it only does its duty to 
the South. There can be no concession or favor to the South, in 
giving her only what she has a right to have under the Constitu- 
tion— unless, indeed, the Constiution for her has no existence. The 
bill then, is, in the first place, quite inadequate to restore to us our 
fugi ive slaves, and in the second place, gives the South nothing 
but what she is entitled to. If this was all, there would be no- 
thing in the bill for which we should concede any thing to the 



20 

North. But it is not all. Under the pretext of bestowing on us 
a benefit, it perpetrates a usurpation on the reserved rights 
of the States. It provides that a slave may arraign his master, 
by the authority of laws made by Congress, before the courts of 
the States and of the United States, to try his right to his free- 
dom. If Congress can legislate at all between the master and 
slave in a State, where can its power be stayed? It can abolish 
Blavery in the States. Thus a power is assumed in the bill, 
which virtually extends thejurisdiction of Congress over slavery 
in the States. And this is a benefit to the South ! Under a guise 
of a benefit, the bill is useless as a remedy — and worse than use- 
less in its usurpations. Such are the various measures which 
constitute this compromise. 

We do not believe that many of those in the South, who 
at an early day, expressed a willingness to support it. had well 
considered its import, or ever contcmplati d supporting it 
without material amendments. We fully appreciate, and duly 
honor the motives of those who would restore tranquility 
to the country, nor shall we impugn in any form those who have 
assisted to frame or who have yielded a support to the measures. 
Why the non-slaveholding States do not support these measures, 
we are unable to understand, unless it be, that a haughty fanati- 
cism, inflated with success, disdains accomplishing its objects by 
indirection. If these measures, however, were really a compro- 
mise in which the South had equal gains with the Noith, it would 
be of doubtful expediency for the South to propose it. Three 
times in Congress, during this controversy, the South has propo- 
sed the Missouri compromise, which has been three times reject- 
ed by the North. Twice she has proposed a compromise by 
which she consented to leave it to the courts of the United States 
to determine her rights. Instead of requiring sternly their^t cog- 
nition by Congress, fifteen sovereign States have consented to be 
carried into the courts of the country. and there to submit 
their sovereign rights in aterritoiy belonging to them, to 
their final arbitrament. Their humiliation did not win the respect 
or confidence of the North and the proposition was twice rejected. 

The South, in our opinion, might accept one other compro- 
mise, not because it is coextensive with our rights, but because 
it has been twice sanctioned by those who have gone before us. 
If the North offers the Missouri Compromise, to extend to the 
Pacific Ocean, the South cannot reject it, provided, a distinct 
recognition of our right to enter the territory south of 30 deg. 
:)0 min. north latitude, is expressed in the compromise. We 
should take this line, as a partition line between the two sec- 
tions of the Union; and beside this, nothing but what the Con- 
stitution bestows. Although the Northern States would acquire 
by this compromise, three-fourths of our vacant territory, they 
will have renounced the insufferable pretension of restricting 
and preventing the extension of the South, whilst they should 
xatend indefinitely. 



21 

Having thus, fellow citizens, laid before you a statement o;' 
your condition — your rights — and the remedy which, under pres- 
ent circumstances, you should accept, we leave you for a brief 
space of time. It is proper to state to you, that while we are 
unanimous in approving the resolutions accompanying this ad- 
dress, the Delegates to this Convention are not entirely unani- 
mous in approving all the arguments contained in it, particu- 
larly such as relate to the compromise bill pending in the Uni- 
ted States Senate, though none are in favor of that bill, unless it 
be amended in conformity with our resolutions, or in such man- 
ner as shall substantially secure to the Sowth the right asserted 
in them. Until Congress adjourns, we cannot know what 
it will do, or will fail to do. We must therefore meet again 
after its adjournment, to consider the final condition in which 
it will leave you. We recommend to you, and exhort you to 
send Delegates from every county and district in the Southern 
States to meet us when we again assemble, it is no ordinary 
occasion which has assembled us together. The Constitution, 
and the Union it created, so long dear to your hearts, are to be 
preserved, and your liberties and your institutions maintained 



' W4Q ^ 
















■ ; :»: V< C .«^ %/ M\o^' 



^ ** ^ /j 



f^ 












o . » 






i* 






-^v 



^ ^ 

>^^* 



\f' 4>" 



'•'-'. 



























"++# 












°^ 



A^i^ 



*v ^ y^k'^ 







v»S' 







W 



*V 














■» -ay <£» • 











C. vP 








, *♦ & % ^|p> «f ^ 

aT *'<^M* \, , 












*P V 






W 




,* ... 













*V 




*<>■ 



* aV ^ . 



?%• «** ^ -^Ayi* 



5?^ ° 
r <^» • 
v* * - 
o. *» • * * A 






^ A* V "V 





•» o 



^V* 












C,\P 






WtRT 
BOOKBINDING 

Cfantville, Pa 
Jan fed 1989 




°*U " , "*" 00 A 






